The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today dismissed an application by Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd and Utusan Group’s editor-in-chief Abdul Aziz Ishak to strike out a RM10 million defamation suit filed by Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali.

Judicial Commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, in dismissing the application, set two days, beginning Aug 29, to hear the case.

He made the decision in chambers in the presence of lawyers N Surendran, representing Syed Husin; Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, for Utusan Melayu and Abdul Aziz, and Farah Mazlan, who represented Kulim-Bandar Baru Member of Parliament Zulkifli Noordin.

Last May, Zulkifli also filed to strike out the suit, but withdrew the application today.

Surendran told reporters that Vazeer Alam also allowed an application by Syed Husin to amend the writ of summons and the statement of claim, and set Aug 15 for case management.

NONE In the suit filed on Jan 27, 2012, Syed Husin, 76 ( left ), is seeking RM10 million damages, exemplary damages, interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court as well as an injunction to prevent the defendants from further publishing the alleged defamatory words.

In his statement of claim, Syed Husin stated that Utusan Melayu and Abdul Aziz had, with malicious intent, published words defamatory of him in an article dated Nov 20, 2011 headlined, ‘ Zul Noordin nafi dakwaan Syed Husin ’ (Zul Noordin denies allegation by Syed Husin) in the Utusan Malaysia newspaper.

He said Zulkifli had posted the same article in his personal website although under a different heading, ‘ Anjing-anjing Pencen ’ (Retired Dogs).

Meanwhile, Utusan Melayu and Abdul Aziz in their respective statement of defence filed on Feb 29, 2012, denied Syed Husin’s allegations, claiming they had reproduced what had already been published by Zulkifli in his blog.

They further claimed the article was reproduced with good intent, as information for the public.

Zulkifli, who filed his defence statement on Feb 28, 2012, said the article in his personal website was fair comment as it involved public interest.

- Bernama